According to Russian media reports quoted by Global Times on February 9, 65438, De La Rue Company, the world's largest banknote printing factory, recently issued a warning that it may go bankrupt because more and more people use bank cards to pay and pay electronically, which has had a great impact on the company's operation. Last week, De La Rue suspended its dividend and its share price has shrunk by 20%. If bankruptcy is finally declared, 2,500 employees may face the risk of unemployment.
As for why this company is called "the largest banknote printing factory in the world", it is because it started printing banknotes for the Bank of England at 1860, and since then it has continuously expanded its business to 140 countries around the world, and one third of the banknotes in the world come from this printing factory. A matter of great concern, who will undertake the task of "printing money for the central bank" after the bankruptcy of British banknote manufacturers? The answer is probably China.
In fact, it is not surprising that the banknotes of 140 countries are printed by British companies, because the currency manufacturing technology was once called "the secret next to the atomic bomb", and the western powers kept this key technology secret, so China embarked on the road of self-reliance. After more than 40 years' development, China's banknote printing and minting industry has become an important interest rate in the world, with 23 large and medium-sized enterprises and national technical centers 1, which is the largest and most comprehensive among the peers in the world.
The fifth set of RMB in circulation in China has reached the level of developed countries in terms of professional anti-counterfeiting, circulation patience and comprehensive quality, and has been recognized by many countries around the world. Over the years, China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation has successfully won the bid for currency production projects in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Brazil, Poland and other countries. Some time ago, we also obtained the banknote printing orders in the Nepalese market through bidding, and successively won the bid for 100 rupees, 1000 rupees and 5 rupees, and adopted the China banknote standard in terms of technology and materials.
Generally speaking, currency manufacturing is a "large-scale" industry. A printing machine can print1400 million banknotes a year, which is not cost-effective for a country with a small population and a small demand for money. However, India may be a special case. Due to the slow development of printing technology, Indian Rupee has long been printed by Denaro, G&D and American banknote companies. Later, India thought that it was shameful and unsafe for foreign countries to print their own currency, so it turned to print its own banknotes, but contrary to expectations, the printed banknotes frequently made mistakes.
It is worth mentioning that the US dollar printing work is mainly undertaken by the US Banknote Printing Bureau. This drum set up in 1862 is located on the tidal lake of the Potomac River in Washington. At present, the US Banknote Printing Bureau has to work overtime to "print money". The data shows that from the end of this year 10 to the second quarter of 2020, the scale of this round of water release by the Federal Reserve will exceed 540 billion US dollars, equivalent to nearly 4 trillion yuan!